Monday, December 21, 2009

I had mentioned in my previous post about the Imagination Movers that although I knew of them for several years and enjoyed the few song clips I'd heard of theirs, it wasn't until watching their TV show on Playhouse Disney that they I could really appreciate how great they were. The Monkees style humor and charm of the show and their characters was immediately endearing, but their music in particular became infectious and memorable with every new show. The Movers songs have a terrific mix of accessible and kid-focused original pop-rock, with influences and styles that include driving Cajun rhythms, Red Hot Chili Pepper style funk rap, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, BNL, and various 80's rock staples. It's a great sound, with the four of them taking turns on vocals, and the songwriting and production is sharp and focused and always serves the song and the audience.

But as much as I've come to love the band, that couldn't begin to compare to how much my girls love them. New episodes of their show are eagerly awaited, recorded, watched and rewatched several times, with particularly funny moments giving my 7 year-old Becca practice with the rewind function of the DVR remote so she and her sister Evee can watch them over and over and laugh like crazy. So when I noticed that the Imagination Movers were embarking on a tour and would be coming to the Northwest in December, and knowing I was taking the month of December off, it was a no-brainer that we'd have to catch one of their shows.

We actually kept it a secret from our girls the whole time, describing our four-hour drive to Seattle as being a trip to pick up a new engine for Mommy's car (which turned out to be a secondary reason we went there that day). Now, we travel enough to where our girls can have a fun experience with any time that we're on the road, and we're happy to play games and listen to music and talk about various things while driving for hours... but still, a trip to Seattle to get an engine just wasn't all that thrilling of a notion for them. So you can imagine their reaction when, after picking up the engine, we drove slowly past a theater where Becca noticed big letters on the marquee that read "IMAGINATION MOVERS - DEC 12". We played dumb at first... "Hmmm, what day is that? Oh hey, that's today. Whaddya know? Ah, but we would need tickets for that..." And then both girls sighed in a softly sad way... But then, well... let's just say that I'm still hearing echoes from the shrieks of joy that ensued when I pulled out the tickets and showed them.

And as if the show itself wasn't incredibly fun enough, they got to meet Rich, Smitty, Scott, Dave and Drummer Kyle afterward. They were able to discuss important things like Webkinz with the guys (apparently, Dave has 12 Webkinz at home... I'm not sure how many are his, though) and even sang a verse of the Plants vs. Zombies theme song for Mover Dave. Needless to say, it was a very memorable day, and the guys were tremendously generous with their time and super-nice and friendly, as you would only expect from watching their show.

Before the show I was able to interview them and talk a little about their experiences and challenges in developing their music and the TV show. I was told by their stage manager that I would only have 3 minutes to talk with them, so if I sound a little hurried at first, it's because I kept expecting to get yanked at any moment and wanted to make sure I got a question or two in. But we ended up talking for 15 minutes, so that was really nice of them to share that much time right before their show. As it turned out, their show started almost exactly 12 minutes late, but I'm sure that was just a coincidence. (I'm just kidding... they started on time.)